The latest happenings in your city government.

LAKELAND, FL (February 25, 2013) – Don Selvage has filed paperwork with the City of Lakeland’s Clerk, officially announcing his decision to run for a second term on the Lakeland City Commission representing the Southwest District.

Selvage is President of SHR Human Resources, LLC, offering consulting and professional recruiting services in the Central Florida area. Selvage stated: “It has been a profound honor and privilege to serve the residents of Lakeland and I am excited about the future of this great city. I am asking our citizens to return me to office so that I can continue my focus on: 1) Sustaining open communications and dialogue among citizens, the city commission, and city management; 2) Facilitating job growth by supporting business development; 3) Building safe, livable, and engaged neighborhoods; 4) Advocating for our seniors’ quality of life to support independent living and aging in place; and 5) Building awareness of veterans issues.”

Selvage holds a BA Degree in Political Science from Ohio State University as well as Masters’ Degrees in Administration from Central Michigan University and in National Security Affairs from Salve Regina College. Following graduation from Ohio State University, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 30 years as an infantry officer and he is a veteran of the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars. Before retiring as a Colonel, he held several command and staff positions overseas and in the continental United States.

Actively involved in several civic and professional organizations, he currently serves as Vice Chairman, Polk County Veterans Council and is Past President of the Polk County Military Officers Association, Mid-Florida Society of Human Resource Managers, and the Lakeland Rotary Club. He is a board member of the Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine. As a city commissioner, he serves on the boards of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, Lakeland Mass Transit District, Polk Transit Authority, Transportation Planning Organization, the Central Florida Development Council’s Arts and Culture Committee, and the Sun n’ Fun Fly-In.

Selvage is married to his wife Rita, a teacher at Dixieland Elementary. They have been married for 43 years.

At the City Commission Meeting held Tuesday January 22nd the following decisions were made.

The appointments of Cora Rankins to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, Jack Strollo, to the Code Enforcement Board, Brian Waller to the Historic Preservation Board and Deborah Boynton to the Midtown Community Redevelopment Area Board were approved.

A recommendation that Penny McAuley be eligible for reappointment to a second full term at the end of her current term on The Planning & Zoning Board was approved.

A Lease Agreement with RDI, LLC for hangar space located in the Airside Center was approved.

An appeal of Denial of Conditional Use at 215 East Main St. was denied.

Large scale future land use map amendment from county residential low and linear commercial corridor to city residential medium, mixed commercial corridor, and conservation on 56.77 acres located north of U.S. Highway 92, West of Fairway Avenue and East of Lake Parker was approved

A text amendment to the Future Land Use Element of the Lakeland Comprehensive Plan to provide consistency with 2012 state legislation related to Green Swamp Policies was approved

A proposed large scale future land use map amendment on 26.8 acres, from regional activity center (rac) to residential medium (rm) on property located at 1020 South Parkway Frontage Road east of Harden Boulevard, south of the South Frontage Road to the Polk Parkway Was approved.

Text Amendment #T-12-013 to the Future Land Use Element of the Lakeland Comprehensive Plan Amending the Office Center Land Use Designation was approved.

Authorization to enter into two engineering Task Authorizations in the amounts not to exceed $289,468 and $248,023 respectively, to provide for engineering services, for the airport, related to the Runway 9/27 rehabilitation and the South Ramp, with Amherst Consulting for the design through bidding phase was approved.

A Task Authorization for a not to exceed amount of $34,980 for an engineering contract with Atkins and execution of a construction contract with Ox Construction and Company for $127,000 for capital improvements at the Airside Center for construction of a shipping and receiving area and office area in northern Bays 2 and 3 was approved

Authorization for City officials to commence negotiations with the top ranked firm of, Lunz Prebor Fowler, Architects for Fire Station #7 project architectural and engineering services was approved .

Proposed resolution no. 13-003 A resolution relating to Lakeland Electric; repealing resolution 4855; designating certain individuals and corporations as authorized representatives of the City of Lakeland, Florida, for the purpose of executing one or more fuel contracts was approved.

Award of Bid No. 2318 to Econolite Control Products, Inc. for advanced traffic Management system center upgrades was approved in the amount of $297,560.00.

Amendment One to The Fire Protection Agreement with Polk County adding additional territory and increasing the dollar Amount by $5,650 was approved.

An agreement with Florida Department of Economic Opportunity extending the deadline for filing annual certification for the current calendar year to May 31, 2013 was approved.